By Joshua Lickteig | Contributing Writer
On a stroll in your neighborhood, you may have noticed a sign in a neighbor’s yard: Certified Backyard Habitat, or Backyard Habitat Certification . . . In Progress. I recently enrolled in the program myself; a unique offering from a collaboration between the Columbia Land Trust and Bird Alliance of Oregon.
Enrollment is offered on a sliding scale, starting at $5, and open to any residential lot smaller than a single acre. The Backyard Habitat Certification Program (BHCP) requires naturescaping, or planting a majority of native plants amongst the groundcover, shrubs and trees of your home’s outdoor space. All of the outdoor space on a property is included, so your front, back, side yards, and even the parking strip must comply in order to become certified.
From shrub and bush species types to the tree canopies in which they live, and all the natural inhabitants or visitors of each (birds, pollinators, bug friends); there’s much to consider, whether attracting wildlife or stewardship of a sustainable, biodiverse ecosystem as a conscious contribution to your local green economy is your particular draw.
A site visit from a habitat technician is the first step after enrollment; the outcome of which is a site report with recommendations. Certification may be achieved at that visit, over weeks or may even take years.
You’ll confer with a vast free library of resources (BackyardHabitats.org/resource-library) along with the certification criteria (BackyardHabitats.org/certification-criteria) and begin to grow knowledge about nourishing native vegetation layers, identifying harmful weeds, reducing pesticides, even managing stormwater.
There are plenty of decisions to make and opportunities to learn about how to help connect urban and suburban greenspaces, no matter your familiarity with plants or trees and the very soil itself. New ways to think about, volunteer, and engage with your community and nature will begin to present themselves.
My visit is scheduled for the beginning of this month.
Joshua Lickteig is an artist and engineer. He was born near the other Milwaukee and has been in Portland for six years. His latest book of poems is called Half Moon Day Sun.